Sillim & Seoul National University: Seoul's Best-Value Eating District

Gwanak-gu is in the far southwest of Seoul, under the granite ridge of Gwanaksan. It's home to Seoul National University, the old Noryangjin-style exam-cram culture around Sillim, and one of the youngest, poorest, hungriest populations in the city. The result is a district where the food is cheap, the portions are absurd, and a handful of shops have become famous nationally without ever raising their prices.

Almost no travelers come here. That's the appeal.

What to do

• Gwanaksan. A proper mountain right at the end of the subway line — rocky, steep in places, with temples on the slopes and a view back over the whole southern half of Seoul. The Seoul National University entrance is the standard route.
• Seoul National University campus. Enormous, green, and open to walk through. The Museum of Art on campus is a Rem Koolhaas building and free to enter.
• Sharosu-gil. The café-and-restaurant lane by Seoul National University Station, named after Garosu-gil in Sinsa but a fraction of the price.
• Nakseongdae Park. A small memorial park for the Goryeo general Gang Gam-chan, and a pleasant place to start the walk up the hill.

What to eat

Gwanak's specialties are the food of people with more appetite than money:

• Sundae-bokkeum (순대볶음). Sillim is the origin of the stir-fried blood-sausage dish — a huge pan of sundae, cabbage, perilla leaf, and gochujang cooked at the table, then finished with fried rice in the same pan. Sillim's version is the version.
• Jjajangmyeon and jjamppong. A dense population of neighborhood Chinese-Korean restaurants, several of them very good.
• Grilled pork and pojangmacha. Late-night tented bars and grill houses where the drinking is the point.
• Bakeries. Nakseongdae has one of the century-designated bakeries in Seoul, and the campus area supports several serious ones.
• Hoe (raw fish). Cheap, generous, and nothing like the Gangnam price.

If you want one dish that explains the district: order sundae-bokkeum for two, add fried rice at the end, and see whether you can finish it.

Practical tips

• Getting there: Seoul National University Station (Line 2) — note this is not on campus; take a green bus (5511, 5513) up the hill. Nakseongdae Station (Line 2) for the park side, Sillim Station (Line 2) for the sundae street.
• Gwanaksan is rockier than it looks. Wear real shoes and start before noon.
• Menus are Korean-only at most of these shops. The videos on each EatHub page below are the fastest way to know what you're ordering.
• Portions assume two people. Solo diners should say "일인분" (il-in-bun, one portion) and expect a look.

Pick a shop below, take Line 2 to the end of the southern loop, and eat like a student for a day.